Curtain-stretcher.



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To aZZwwm it may concer/n. 1 i

Be it known that I,Lnw1s S. KEIM, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Bakersfield, in the county of Kern `and State of California, have invented certain new and useful lmlorovements in CurtaineStretchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in curtain stretchers.

The main object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed, foldable stretcher of this character which maybe easily and quickly set up and knocked down and folded compactly for shipping,storage` or otherpurposes. y i

Another object is to provide simple and eii'icient means forsupporting and holding the rods on which the hooks are strung.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the" combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a stretcher constructed in accordance with this invention ready for use,

Fig. 2 is a detail bottom plan view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-.3 of Fig. 1, andr Fig. 4 is an end elevation `of one of the rails.

In the embodiment illustrated,.side rails are shown.

Theside rails 1 are made in sections 2 hingedly connected at 3. It is to be under stood that any desired number of these sections may be employed, three' being here shown, of equal length, one end section being hinged to the middle section to fold in tudinally extending groove 4:, the side walls of which are undercut as shown at 5 and are adapted to receive blocks 6 shaped to fit Specification of Letters Patent.

said groovesiand which are f designed to` Vform` seats Ifor the pivot `rods 15 uwhichuare` mounted `in the grooves :4. Thesefpivot rods 15 are of considerably lessudiameter 'thank the width `of the grooves 4 sothat thehooks 20 which are strung on said rods mayihave ample room for `turning thereon to engage and disengage them from the curtains `to. be

stretched. Any desired number of hooks 20` may be strung on these rods (about two hun-1 dred being usually used for curtainsof ordinary lengths and widths, althoughobviously any desired number may be employed, they being preferably spaced about an inch or an inch and a half apart when applied.

rammen neas, 1991s. p Application siedi/raten as, 1917",serialn0.157,5a'5.` Renewed october fl, 1913. `sei-iai nel 2551.919; 1W

The pivot rods 15 are secured in their s seats by"1neans of screws?, said `rods being shown made in sections corresponding in length to the length of the sections of` the rails to which they `are applied, andthe screws 7 are shown extending through* the opposite ends. ofsaid` rod sectionswhereby they are reliably secured in position when the rails are folded. The `siderails 1 which are made in `three sections are shown pro# vided on their lower faces with hooks as 8, one end of which is pivotally engaged with thelower face of the middle sectionof said rail, and the other hook-shapedhend19` de-` tachably engaged with an eye 9 depending from the lower face of `theadjacentend secn tion so,` that these adjacent sections i, are held rigid in relation to `each other when inset up position, "themhinge thereoffbeing dis-` posed on the upper face, andwould permit these sections tocollapseif these hooks" or 1 some other means were not provided to pre`` y vent this. 1, end railslO, pivot rods 15 and hooks 20,

The Side hiawatha fdaigtaaaib "adjustably connected at the corners of the y frame by means of clamps 25, one being shown engaged with each corner of the frame and constructed in the form of a U- shaped member 26, the arms ofwhich are spaced apart a sufficient distance to span the overlapping ends of the side and end rail to which the clamp is `to be applied, one of said arms having a fiat rail engaging face 27, and the other beingapertured and internally threaded to receive an adjusting and clamping bolt 28 such as is ordinarily cm-` ployed in clamps of this character, said bolt havin a clamping face 29for engaging the rail w ich it is designed to clamp and at its whereby the clamp may be tigh other end with a head or finger gri 30 tene or disposed midway the width of said rails so that the hooks 2O which are strung on the rods mounted therein may swing to one side or the other of the rail. These hooks are constructed as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 3, being preferably composed of wire, and

have eyes 21 formed at one end through which the rods 15 are designed to extend. The shanks 22 of these hooks are made of a suflicient length to span the distance between the rods and the opposed side edges of the rails and to project slightly beyond said edges and are provided at their terminals with laterally extending hooks 23. These hooks are designed for engaging the curtain to be stretched for connecting it to the stretcher, when the device is in use, and when it is not in use these hooks are designed to be swung in the opposite direction with their points or hooked ends engaging the outer edges of the rails in which they are mounted.

The outer edges of the upper faces of these rails 1 and 10 are preferably provided with scales shown at 11 to provide for the f proper positioning of the rails relatively to each other and for the proper positioning of the hooks on their pivot rods.

From the above description it will be obvious that this stretcher may be readily disassembled and folded in compact form when not in use by simply releasing the corner clamps 25 and removing them from the stretcher. The hooks 8 are then disengaged from their eyes 9 and the` sections of theside rails are folded one on the other as will be clearly understood. The end rails are'then folded in asimilar manner and placed on top or bythe side ofthe folded side rails stretcher is then ready for use, the curtain being placed between the rails and engaged with the hooks 20.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the advantages of the-construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains and while I have described the principle of operation of the invention together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I -desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made as are within the scope of the claimed invention.

I claim:

In a curtain stretcher, adjustably and detachably connected end and side rails each composed of sections hingedly connected at their ends, longitudinally extending grooves in one face of said rails, said grooves having undercut side walls, blocks fitting in said grooves to form rod supports and seats, rods of less diameter than said grooves disposed therein and secured to said seats, said rods being made in sections corresponding in length to the length of the rail sections on which they are mounted, and attaching hooks strung on said rods.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS S. KEIM.

i AWitnesses z L. O. HAUPT, 1 IRENE R. WILSON.

Copies oithis patent may be obtained for, five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, `Washington, D. C. 

